Swapnil, Sarabjot to spearhead India at ISSF WC
Olympic bronze medallists Swapnil Kusale and Sarabjot Singh will lead a 24-member Indian shooting contingent at the ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol, the competition for which starts from Saturday.
The squad travelled to Cairo after completing an intensive national camp in Dehradun. The camp was held from October 1 to 7 at the Maharana Pratap Sports College. Shooters spent the week working on match simulations and fine-tuning technical routines.
India will compete across eight individual Olympic disciplines and two mixed team events. The contingent combines seasoned Olympians with promising young shooters.
Kusale headlines the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions squad alongside Akhil Sheoran and Adriyan Karmakar. Olympian Arjun Babuta leads the men’s 10m air rifle unit alongside Deaflympics champion Dhanush Srikanth and Paarth Makhija. Babuta won silver at the 2026 Asian Shooting Championships in New Delhi.
In the women’s rifle events, two-time Olympian Anjum Moudgil anchors the 50m Rifle 3 Positions team with Ayushi Podder and Manini Kaushik. Emerging shooter Arya Rajesh Borse, who won silver at the Buenos Aires World Cup, features in the women’s 10m air rifle alongside Khyati Chaudhary and Ismita Bhowal.
In the men’s pistol section, Paris 2024 bronze medallist Sarabjot will spearhead the 10m air pistol line-up alongside Ajendra Singh Chauhan and Udhayveer Sidhu. Vijayveer Sidhu will lead the challenge in the 25m rapid fire pistol alongside Suraj Sharma and Ankur Goel.
The women’s pistol unit features Asian Games champion Palak, who will take part in the 10m air pistol event alongside Muskan and Surbhi Rao. Olympian Rhythm Sangwan, former World Cup gold medallist Chinki Yadav and Divya TS form the line-up in the women’s 25m sports pistol.
The opening day features finals in both the 10m air pistol mixed team and 10m air rifle mixed team competitions. Ajendra Singh Chauhan will partner Palak, while Udhayveer Sidhu teams up with Muskan in the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event.
Paarth Makhija and Arya Rajesh Borse, alongside Dhanush Srikanth and Khyati Chaudhary, will contest the 10m air rifle mixed team event. Individual qualification rounds and finals across the 10m, 25m and 50m ranges will continue through 15 October 2026.
